newbie alert, feeding questions.

[Ashleedm]

So I picked up a new beardie yesterday at the arlington convention. He is a Citrus Italian leatherback

so they were not specific on feeding, this morning I started giving him meal worms, I started with 5 then gave him one at a time and it got to like 20 so I stopped because I didnt know if they just eat and eat or they eat till they are full. I also am going to get him other protein this is just what I picked up from petco, today im going to a better pet store for a wider variety of food. And I know to give him some greens. Also, how often should he eat?? 3 times a day?

Ill post pictures of his size and his cage so i can get some feedback. The light I use is the powersun that is the all in one for uvb, uva, heat and light. And please dont hesitate on giving me any other information I should know!

[Freakie_frog]

Oh there's the Beardie.. LOL good looking little buddy.

[Ashleedm]

hahah

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

No no no!!! NO mealworms!!!!

They have a hard outer shell which can lead to impaction problems. Feed anything which is no longer than the space between the dragons eyes. Crickets, wax worms, silkworms, pheonix worms (the last 2 are the healthiest for them).

We have a few dragon experts on here. Just hold out until one of them sees your post. You will get a slew of info

I found a good one. Look at post number 11. Everything you need to know!

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...=114701&page=2

[Briankm]

Housing.

Hatchlings require an enclosure of at least 20 gallons. It should be longer rather than tall as beardies need alot of floor space. If given the proper care, it will out grow the 20 gallon very quickly, but is best to start them in a smaller space as a hatchling, as to much space may cause them to become stressed, and they may have a hard time hunting their prey. A 40 gallon breeder tank, (36x18x18), will do it’s whole life, as it becomes an adult, but the more space they have, the happier they will be. As they reach sub adult and adult hood, if you have the space, a custom built enclosure would make a perfect home for your bearded dragon, and he/she would certainly love all the space to run around. The enclosure size that would be suitable for an adult would be 4 foot long, at least 2 foot wide, and 2-3 foot tall.

Decor.

Keep it simple. Again, beardies need and want floor space. They should have something to bask on like a log or rock for the hot and cool end, and a hide for both ends of the tank. Make sure to have a shadey area for them if needed.Beardies do not like clutter so keep the floor space open. You can use a log or flat rocks from outside, but first you will have to soak them for a few hours in bleach solution and hot water, 1 part bleach to 10 parts water, rince well, and then bake them in your oven for 1-2 hours at 250. Once cooled you can add it to your beardies enclosure.

Substrate.

There are alot of options out there as to what to use for a substrate, you can use a non adesive shelf liner, paper towel, newspaper, reptile carpet, indoor/outdoor carpet, whick looks great, or tile, like slate tile which has a rough topping to keep the nails trimmed for you. You can also use sand, but you can only use washed and sifted playsand easily required from any hardware store. You will also have to sift it yourself as there are always tiny pebbles in it which can lead to your beardies death if injested. NEVER use any pet store sand which has added calcium which is stated to be good for reptiles when it is infact the #1 killer of reptiles. Due to the calcium in the sand, beardies love the taste and will injest alot of it which clumps in their intestines like *kitty litter* causing them to become impacted and over time causing death for them. Remember, beardies do NOT live on sand in the wild, but more of a hard compacted clay, with sandy areas. If you are to use playsand, the basking temps should be 110f-115f so if injested can be passed easily with the fecal matter. The cool end of the tank should be between 80-85f also. And be sure with the high temps your beardie stays well hydrated.

Heating and lighting.

Bearded Dragons require UVA/UVB lighting inorder to ensure a long happy healthy life with you, and without it they cannot survive and will die a slow painful death from MBD, or Metabloic bone disaese, which causes the bones to become weak and deform.

UVA, is responsible for normal behaviors such as feeding, how active they are, mating, etc.

UVB, is a non-visible wavelength which allows the synthesis of vitiman D3 which helps to process the calcium offered in the diet, and prevent MBD.

UVC, is also a non-visible wavelength and does not seem to be required by reptiles. UVC is often used as the light source for UV sterilization for killing bacteria, and at high levels of exposure can be harmful to most reptiles.

Some UVB lighting made for reptiles have been found to cause them alot of harm, rather than be good for them, These bulbs include compact and coiled lights, as well as the ReptiGlo 10 long tube UVB light. The only safe UVB to use are either the ReptiSUN 10 linear fluorescent tube, or a MVB, (Mecury vapor bulb) The MVB’s emitt both UVB and heat all in one, making these the best choice out there. The UVB emittions also last a full year before needing to be replaced unlike the tubes which should be replaced every 8-10 months. The MVB bulbs do come with a few requirements so if you choose to use them, make sure to read the instructions carefully. For the 100 whatt MVB, they must be at least 12" away from the basking spot due to the high emittions of heat and UVB, and at 40 gallon breeder tank is the smallest tank you could use one, otherwise you risk overheating and killing your beardie. If you choose to use the Reptisun 10 linear tube, it must be a distance of 6-8" from your beardie, and should run the whole length of the top of the cage.

For more info on the bad bulbs not to use, please go to... http://www.uvguide.co.uk/

Beardies also require bright lighting to keep them active as well, if throughout the cage is to dark, they will become inactive and may even refuse to eat, so even adding regular fluorescent lighting will work for brightness, even an old fish tank light.

Basking temps for a baby must be 110-115f, the air around the basking spot should be mid 90’s, and the cool end should be 80-85f. Babies need these temps inorder to digest their food properly, and to stay healthy. Temps to low may cause a baby to become impacted from undigested food, and even death.

For heat you can use a dome fixture with regular house hold bulbs, and the whattage will depend on the temperatures so you may have to play around with different whattages to achieve correct temps of 110f. To measure temps acurately, only a digital thermometer with a probe will do, a temp gun, or an infrared thermometer. Stick on thermometers or dials may be off as much as 20 degrees, so those will NOT work.

Bearded dragons do not need any heat source at night as long as the temps do not drop below 60-65f. They need to beable to *shut down* properly at night and cannot do so with heat or light. If temps do drop below 60f, you can use a ceramic heat emitter which will offer heat, but no light at all. Do not use red or any color bulbs as they disturb the sleep, and are harsh on the eyes as well. Black moon glo bulbs are fine that are made for reptiles.
Never use heat rocks, they have caused serious burns to bearded dragons as beardies need heat from above, not below...

Supliments.
You will need a total of three supliments to be offered to your beardie it’s whole life to ensure strong bone growth and for it to stay healthy.
Rep cal pure calcium, it must be D3 and phosphorus free, it has a green label.
Rep cal calcium with D3, it has a pink label.
Rep cal Herpivite which is the Multivitiman, it has a blue label.

Dosage is as follows:
Between the age of 2-4 months, pure calcium, no D3, 2 x a day
calcium with D3 once a week
Multivitiman 2 x a week.

Between the ages of 4-8 months, pure calcium, no D3 once a day,
calcium with D3 once a week,
Multivitiman once a week.

8 months and on, pure calcium, no D3, 3 x a week,
calcium with D3 once a week,
Multivitiman once a week.

D3 is only offered once a week only as to much is toxic for beardies and will kill them if given to much, but that little bit once a week is needed to help them absorb the pure calcium, as well as the proper UVB lighting, otherwise the calcium will be passed through the body without doing no good at all. Symptoms of D3 toxicity are twitching of the limbs,it will become inactive and lethargic, it may stop eating and basking, and may even throw up in more severe cases, and will eventually lead to death if not caught in time.

Feeding.
Staple feeders for beardies are crickets, silkworms, roaches, and phoenix worms are great for hatchlings due to the soft body and small size, and they are packed full of calcium. Treat feeders for beardies are butterworms, super worms, and wax worms, but waxies are for rare treats, they are so high in fat that if given to many constantly, will eventually lead to fatty liver disease. Supers should never be fed to baby dragons unless the worms are infact babies themselves. Never feed a beardie of any age meal worms, they have a hard chitin shell which beardies cannot digest and will leave them impacted, and they are also high in fat, and low in calcium.
The rule of thumb is to never feed your beardie anything bigger than the space between it’s eyes, insects to big for them will again, leave them impacted, which means a blockage of the intestines leaving them unable pass the fecal matter until it kills them.
Fresh greens should be offered daily, and finely chopped for a baby. For a wonderful nutritious list of greens, go to Beautiful Dragons .com, and click on nutrition content. Staple greens include, mustard greens, collard greens, turnip greens, endive, escarol, and all squash as well. You can also feed the dandelion greens and the flower, that can be picked and washed from outside, as long as you are 100% sure the grass they grow in has not been treated with any kind of pestiside which will kill your bearded dragon. Dandelion greens make an excellent staple food for your beardie as it’s high in calcium. NEVER feed your beardie spinich, it binds the calcium intake. Carrot also should only be as a rare treat as it is high in Vitiman A and to much of that can be toxic for them also.

For a hatchling. It should be offered live prey, 2-3 x a day, as much as it will eat in a 10-15 min period, and be sure to remove any and all live prey as starving crickets can become the hunter for a hatchling instead of being the hunted. They have been known to kill baby bearded dragons if they are hungry enough. If you are not sure if you have gotton them all out of the tank, leave a few left over beardie greens on the tank floor, this way they will not bother your beardie while it sleeps.

After a year old, beardies only need to be fed live feeders 3 x a week, to much protein for them after that age may cause fatty liver disease and or kidney failure. Again, as much as they will eat in a 10-15 min period. Fresh greens every day, for life, at this age they need more greens than insects, and once they reach old age they will eat greens only, no feeders at all.

Other important things to know.

You can offer a water dish in your beardies enclosure, but most beardies do not reconize standing water, so some do not offer a water dish at all, they are desert reptiles after all, but does not mean they cannot become dehydrated. Signs of dehydration are the eyes will appear sunkin in, and the skin will become wrinkled, and will not go back into place if you lightly pinch it. Beardies need humidity around 40%. To much humidity can cause RI, or Respiratory infection. Signs of RI will include heavy breathing, weazing or popping noises while breathing, runny nose, or saliva comming from the mouth.

To ensure your beardie stays hydrated, on a daily basis you can offer water through a syringe or dropper. Drip it on the snout and if he or she is thirsty, will lick it off, keep dropping until it stops drinking. Also, they like misting coupple x a day as well with warm water, just the beardie, not the cage. Bathing is a must for bearded dragons. 2-3 x a week, a beardie should be soaked in luke warm water, or 95f, the water should be up to the shoulders, and should be soaked for 20 min or so, making sure the vent area is in the water, this will hydrate them also. For an adult you can use your bath tub, be warned though, warm water will most likely make it go *potty* in the water, or you can use a plastic rubbermaid sweater box, big enough for the whole body to fit in, just make sure it is see through, to keep your beardie from becomming stressed. Whatever you choose to bathe them in, should be disinfected before and after every bath.

Once you bring your new baby home, no matter what the age, for the first few days it may refuse to eat. Some people think they have a sick beardie due to this but thats not the case. It will need time to adjust to you, as well as the new surroundings, some take a few days to settle in, while others may take a few weeks, and some pick up right where they left off. If the beardie has not been tamed or handled alot, it may open it’s mouth at you as if it were going to bite, and may run or hide. Be patient, and take it slow. Start by placing your hand in the cage a few times throughout the day until it realizes your hand is not to harm him. Once you can do this, you can gently place your hand under the belly and gently scoop him up. If he runs away though, do NOT continue to chase him around the cage or he may never learn to trust you and may not want to be handled at all. If it runs from you, quit and try a little later. Hand feeding is a great way to form that bond between you and your new baby as well. Give him time, and be patient, he will come around and be your best little friend. Once you and your beardie have formed that trust, they love to be handled and cuddled, and are great little companions.

Never house two beardies together. Even as hatchlings at times they will end up with bitten off tail tips or toes, and bitten tails can become fatal as it can turn into tail rot if infection sets in, and it will most likely loose part or all of the tail as a result. One beardie will dominate the other leaving the other hiding instead of basking and eating. A male/female could only be housed together for breeding purposes as a male will mate a female even before she is ready or old enough, which is 18 months of age, and egg laying is extreamly hard on them, not to menchine a female only has to mated one time, and can store sperm causing her to lay many clutches of eggs every month for up to one year, and if she is not the correct age to be mated, she will take all the calcium from her bones if she has to for the eggs which will leave her in a very bad condition. Two males living together would surely kill one another. Some professional breeders do house two or more females together with no issues, but to do so, they must be from the same clutch, and they must be the same size, but even then at times disaster will happen, and a fight will break out leave one or both injured.

Once mature (after one year of age), bearded dragons will go into Brumation, or *winter shut down* They will become inactive, hidden in shelters, or laying on the ground eating very little if at all. During Brumation, beardies must be kept at cooler temperatures 60-70f, no higher. If you cannot achieve these temps, one thing you could do is place the tank on the floor. Basking lights should be reduced to 75-80f, and left on only 8-10 hours a day instead of the usual 12-14 hours a day, until you can completely shut them all off. Alot of people worry their dragons are getting sick during Brumation, but it’s quite normal for them to act this way during the winter months. Brumation can last anywhere from a few days or weeks, even up to five months. If a beardie is healthy and paracite free, it will loose little to no weight during their sleep, will remain in good condition, and will show no signs of disease such as sunken eyes, gaping, or twitching. Never let them shut down with food in their belly, food rotting in the gut may cause infections and such, so make sure they have passed all food they may have eaten. You can achieve this by a nice long warm soak in the bath. One thing that should be done before shut down is to reduce, then eliminate food for the dragon about one week before the onset of cooler temps. You can wait and observe the dragon closely, and then create shut down conditions as soon as the dragon shows signs of reduction in activity and food intake. At the end of winter shut down you will notice a shift in behaviors following the increase of heating and lighting. They will return to normal as soon as they start to bask and eat again.
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[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

lol they beat me to it!

You know what though? You are going to HATE that repti carpet. These guys poop alot. I have to change the paper in my tank multiple times a week due the all the little turds everywhere. Id go with the washed and sifted play sand like it says in the care sheet posted.

Much easier to scoop the poop than to try washing a repti carpet all the time.

[Briankm]

Oh, and the powersun will definitely NOT provide enough heat, you need to get a digital thermometer with a probe and put the probe on the basking spot and the body on the cool side.

[Ashleedm]

ok thanks guys, I have to find a store to offer better worms. The stores by me only have meal and wax worms. And of course I bought the two worms that are not good for him, poo. Luckily my brother had a puffer fish who will eat them.

The power sun bulb is heating my tank to 105, so do I still need more heat?

Also, could I possibly put him in a separate enclosure when I feed him crickets?
He is in a 40 gal tank and I just want him to be able to get his food. I bought small crickets but I think they are too small for him he has no interest in them, but that could be from stress. I have only had him 3 days. thanks for the replies. The long one I ended up reading on another website so it just reassured me

oh and one more thing, he keeps shutting one eye but keeping the other one open... is that normal?

[BPelizabeth]

Hi...welcome to beardie land...lol. Like the other stated no mealworms...their chitlin....aka..shell will impact them. You might be able to do some silkworms but honestly I would say no worms until they are older. Just crickets for now...and greens. When feeding crickets go by the size of whatever can fit between their eyes. Anything else they might have a hard time digesting. There is a great website that is called beautiful dragons that has an amazing list for greens. What to feed everyday....everyweek...and as a treat...and the nevers when it comes to greens. As a new beardie owner myself....I highly recommend it. Remember no food 2 hours prior to bedtime as you want them to digest first. Also cut up his greens like confetti while he is so little.

With the power sun bulb....only do calcium supplements....no D3. Also you might want to do 6 days calcium and on the 7th day a multi vitamin.

Also the more research I have done on crickets ....do not buy gut loaded. There is information on the fact that when crickets eat calcium their bodies can't handle it and they die. So just frost your crickets with your own calcium. You can buy bulk crickets waaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy cheaper than by the dozen. If you do....keep them in like a 10 gallon tank with fresh greens and cardboard egg cartons or toilet paper rolls. Always change the water every two days and try to take out the dead ones as apparently dead ones release a toxin that will kill the others. This is just misc. research I have done since getting my beardie about a month ago. ??

Also I give my beardie a bath about every other day...but do it in the afternoon as they need a couple of hours afterwards to warm back up. I have also found that mine and my friends beardie loves to be wrapped up in a blankey at bedtime. I do that ....he goes to sleep and doesnt move until I wake him up in the morning....lol.

Ok...that is about most of the goofey knowledge I know at this point. Have fun with him. I have found he has become our little baby....without the diapers of course....lol


oh ps 1 more thing.....for flooring I have found that shelf liner is AWESOME. Easy to clean...super easy...in fact I clean out his cage everynight prior to bedtime and it takes about 5 minutes.

[Ashleedm]

Hi...welcome to beardie land...lol. Like the other stated no mealworms...their chitlin....aka..shell will impact them. You might be able to do some silkworms but honestly I would say no worms until they are older. Just crickets for now...and greens. When feeding crickets go by the size of whatever can fit between their eyes. Anything else they might have a hard time digesting. There is a great website that is called beautiful dragons that has an amazing list for greens. What to feed everyday....everyweek...and as a treat...and the nevers when it comes to greens. As a new beardie owner myself....I highly recommend it. Remember no food 2 hours prior to bedtime as you want them to digest first. Also cut up his greens like confetti while he is so little.

With the power sun bulb....only do calcium supplements....no D3. Also you might want to do 6 days calcium and on the 7th day a multi vitamin.

Also the more research I have done on crickets ....do not buy gut loaded. There is information on the fact that when crickets eat calcium their bodies can't handle it and they die. So just frost your crickets with your own calcium. You can buy bulk crickets waaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy cheaper than by the dozen. If you do....keep them in like a 10 gallon tank with fresh greens and cardboard egg cartons or toilet paper rolls. Always change the water every two days and try to take out the dead ones as apparently dead ones release a toxin that will kill the others. This is just misc. research I have done since getting my beardie about a month ago. ??

Also I give my beardie a bath about every other day...but do it in the afternoon as they need a couple of hours afterwards to warm back up. I have also found that mine and my friends beardie loves to be wrapped up in a blankey at bedtime. I do that ....he goes to sleep and doesnt move until I wake him up in the morning....lol.

Ok...that is about most of the goofey knowledge I know at this point. Have fun with him. I have found he has become our little baby....without the diapers of course....lol


oh ps 1 more thing.....for flooring I have found that shelf liner is AWESOME. Easy to clean...super easy...in fact I clean out his cage everynight prior to bedtime and it takes about 5 minutes.

awesome thanks so much! I did have that schedule for the supplements, I have a calender and have it all written out. and thanks for the heads up on shelf liner.

I went and bought 150 crickets and bought a cricket keeper/dispenser and cricket food and water because I don't want to run up to the store every other day.... and thanks for the heads up on the worms. Im guessing George (my BD) is about 3 months by size, the only thing the breeder said he was the runt of the pack.

But he dosn't even look at the crickets, and pays them no attention.

So my last 2 questions (hopefully) is when should I offer crickets to him science he isn't eating them at all? Its like they are invisible to him. Are they too small?? they are about 3/4 the distance between his eyes. And, i coated them in calcium..and they are all white COVERED... did I over do it??